U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, of Butler, R-3rd Dist., said that's what Americans are getting this year from the White House as the nation jumps from one problem to another -- the "fiscal cliff," the debt ceiling extension, immigration reform, gun control and other issues.

"We run from fire to fire, from brush fire to brush fire," Kelly told about 90 people at the Manufacturer & Business Association's legislative luncheon.

And referring to President Barack Obama, Kelly said, "We have a fire starter who can't wait to get his hands on the matches."

Kelly and U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, of Howard Township, Centre County, addressed the group and answered a handful of questions during the 80-minute session. Under congressional redistricting, Thompson now represents about two-thirds of Erie County's land mass, while Kelly represents the rest of the county.

Asked about his "fire starter" comment, Kelly said that Obama isn't addressing the nation's biggest problem head-on, the still-struggling economy. Other issues are important, but the economy is the biggest, he said.

Kelly said that the president didn't talk about the economy in his inaugural address. But Obama mentioned it, in an upbeat tone. Obama said that "an economic recovery has begun," and that the nation's prosperity "must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class."

Both congressmen voted to help the nation avoid going over the so-called "fiscal cliff" and they voted to allow borrowing to exceed the limit of $16.4 trillion through May 18.

With the debt ceiling issue off the House's table, for now, the focus can shift toward reducing government spending, Kelly and Thompson said.

"Government does not run like a business. It runs like a bunch of runaway kids with a charge card and nobody pays the tab," Kelly told the group.

Thompson suggested that Congress could work on approving a debt ceiling extension until the end of Obama's term -- as part of a bipartisan deal for concessions on spending, along with economic-growth policies on a path toward a balanced budget.

Speaker John Boehner has said that Republicans would put together a budget that would eliminate deficits in 10 years.

Kelly and Thompson also touched on tax reform, government regulations, the new health-care law and energy.